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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Monopoly Myth And Other Tales About The Superiority Of Lawyers, Leslie C. Levin
The Monopoly Myth And Other Tales About The Superiority Of Lawyers, Leslie C. Levin
Leslie C. Levin
The legal profession’s control of much of the market for legal services is justified by the claim that only licensed lawyers can effectively and ethically represent clients. This article challenges that claim. A review of a number of studies suggests that experienced nonlawyers can provide competent legal services in certain contexts and in some cases, can seemingly do so as effectively as lawyers. There is also little evidence that lawyers’ legal training, the bar admission requirements, or lawyers’ psychological characteristics make them more trustworthy than nonlawyer legal services providers. The article considers some recent initiatives, such as Washington’s approval of …
The Folly Of Expecting Evil: Reconsidering The Bar's Character And Fitness Requirement, Leslie Levin
The Folly Of Expecting Evil: Reconsidering The Bar's Character And Fitness Requirement, Leslie Levin
Leslie C. Levin
The bar’s character and fitness inquiry seeks to protect the public. As part of this inquiry, bar applicants are required to produce detailed information about their past histories. The rationale for this inquiry is that this information can be used to identify who will subsequently become a problematic lawyer. Bar applicants bear the burden of providing their “good” character even though there is little evidence that past conduct predicts who will become a problematic lawyer. This article looks at psychological and other research that attempt to identify factors that might predict future misconduct in the work place. It also reports …
Report To The Connecticut Judicial Branch Access To Justice Commission, Melanie B. Abbott, Leslie C. Levin, Stephen Wizner
Report To The Connecticut Judicial Branch Access To Justice Commission, Melanie B. Abbott, Leslie C. Levin, Stephen Wizner
Leslie C. Levin
No abstract provided.
A Study Of The Relationship Between Bar Admissions Data And Subsequent Lawyer Discipline, Leslie C. Levin, Christine Zozula, Peter Siegelman
A Study Of The Relationship Between Bar Admissions Data And Subsequent Lawyer Discipline, Leslie C. Levin, Christine Zozula, Peter Siegelman
Leslie C. Levin
The research reported here uses information from the admissions files of lawyers admitted to the Connecticut bar from 1989 to 1992 to compare those who were disciplined with those who were not disciplined. It analyzes information reported during the bar admissions process that may predict later lawyer misconduct including, inter alia, prior criminal history, problem credit history, prior employment history, academic misconduct, substance abuse, and psychological history. The study reveals that many of the responses on the admissions application are statistically associated with an elevated risk of future discipline. Nevertheless, these variables nevertheless make very poor predictors of subsequent misconduct. …
Why Context Matters, Lynn Mather, Leslie C. Levin
Why Context Matters, Lynn Mather, Leslie C. Levin
Leslie C. Levin
No abstract provided.
Misbehaving Lawyers: Cross Country Comparisons, Leslie C. Levin
Misbehaving Lawyers: Cross Country Comparisons, Leslie C. Levin
Leslie C. Levin
Lawyer misbehavior occurs in every country and regulators often struggle to address it effectively. This article looks at six case studies of disciplined lawyers in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It notes the similarities in the cases and to disciplined lawyers previously described in case studies in the United States. In particular, these case studies involved male lawyers predominantly working in solo or small firms who were insufficiently exposed to positive professional values early in practice. They were willing to lie to achieve their goals and were motivated, at least in part, by money. The …
Bad Apples, Bad Lawyers Or Bad Decisionmaking: Lessons From Psychology And From Lawyers In The Dock, Leslie C. Levin
Bad Apples, Bad Lawyers Or Bad Decisionmaking: Lessons From Psychology And From Lawyers In The Dock, Leslie C. Levin
Leslie C. Levin
Richard Abel’s book, Lawyers in the Dock: Learning from Attorney Disciplinary Proceedings, presents six detailed case studies of New York lawyers who engaged in serious misconduct. He uses these case studies to carefully explore the social, psychological and structural conditions of lawyer deviance that lead to betrayals of trust. This essay considers what additional light some of the psychological literature, in particular, might shed on the behaviors of Abel’s lawyers for the purposes of better understanding how to prevent lawyer misconduct. More specifically, it considers how social and psychological processes may help to explain the trajectory of lawyer misconduct and …
The Case For Less Secrecy In Lawyer Discipline, Leslie Levin
The Case For Less Secrecy In Lawyer Discipline, Leslie Levin
Leslie C. Levin
No abstract provided.
Building A Better Lawyer Discipline System: The Queensland Experience, Leslie Levin
Building A Better Lawyer Discipline System: The Queensland Experience, Leslie Levin
Leslie C. Levin
In many jurisdictions, lawyer-run discipline systems are inefficient, overly lenient and insufficiently responsive to consumer's concerns. Queensland's Legal Profession Act 2004 (Qld) breaks away from that model by moving lawyer discipline out of lawyers' professional associations and into an independent agency. It articulates a decidedly consumer-oriented approach to lawyer discipline and gives Queensland's new Legal Services Commissioner the power to investigate and prosecute all discipline complaints. This article looks at Queensland's recent reforms, and considers how well the new system is meeting its twin goals of consumer protection and traditional lawyer discipline. Using interviews and other data, the article identifies …
Lawyers In Cyberspace: The Impact Of Legal Listservs On The Professioal Development And Ethical Decisionmaking Of Lawyers, Leslie Levin
Lawyers In Cyberspace: The Impact Of Legal Listservs On The Professioal Development And Ethical Decisionmaking Of Lawyers, Leslie Levin
Leslie C. Levin
This article explores the impact of trial lawyers' associations on the professional identities of its members, their professional development, their understanding of practice norms, and their ethical decision making. It does so by looking at the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), and more specifically, the conversations that occur on its listserv. When these conversations are viewed in the context of the history and current operations of NYSTLA, it is possible to see how such listservs powerfully promote shared professional values and views within NYSTLA=s membership. The listserv extends the advice networks of trial lawyers far beyond the small …